Meanings behind songs.

[Dark Knifer]

Do you ever enjoy finding the meanings of songs , if so what are they, or do you just listen to them and not think about the lyrics?

 

[ottenni]

Yeah i do enjoy it, partially because i very rarely do and i am very proud when i do, words and meanings are not my thing.

 

[SonicKoala]

When I first hear a song, I tend to ignore the lyrics and just focus on the melody. More often that not I find that the artists I listen to have rather redundant or meaningless lyrics. Frankly, if songs want to convey meaning, they should be clear about it, rather than making it unnecessarily cryptic. Some of my favourite lyrics come from Pink Floyd, with songs such as "Time" or "Dogs" - it's obvious what the songs are trying to convey, but that in no way reduces the impact of the message. The Dead Kennedys and The Clash are other bands that have some really awesome lyrics with straight messages that aren't convoluted by pretension and vagueness.

 

[HardRockSamurai]

Actually, I find it's more interesting to learn about the history of a song, rather than it's meaning, because, lets face it, 90% of all music is about having sex, and you don't really need to google a song to figure that out.

 

[Iron_will]

Meh, I look up the song on Google if I want to know the meaning behind it. Only happens if I enjoy listening to it though.

 

[DoW Lowen]

Actually, I find it's more interesting to learn about the history of a song, rather than it's meaning

This is pretty much how I feel. You develop different aspects once you know the history of a song. You can start decoding obscurities and symbols and it's almost as if you're putting together a puzzle. Which is why I recommend you read the biographies of musicians, as they provide great insight.

For example in Red Hot Chili Peppers' Scar Tissue the 'Young Kentucky girl with a push up bra' he was referring to was a girl who didn't know his music that well, but he convinced her to join him on part of his concert tour and she became somewhat of a groupie that he was obsessed with, after much pressure she finally gave him 'the best oral sex' of his life, despite her currently being in a relationship. It's all quite interesting to know what the hell they're are on about, as opposed to blaming it on something they are on.

However I study poetry as part of my Arts course, so I've come to appreciate lyrics as poetry. However once you read through enough poems you begin to resent a lot of lyrics for their trite mannerisms.

If any one can tell me what half of the System of a Down songs are about, power to you.

 

[Carbonic Penguin]

Meh, I look up the song on Google if I want to know the meaning behind it. Only happens if I enjoy listening to it though.

I did that with a couple of Disturbed songs. 'I'm Alive' I've decided is about keeping your individuality, and 'Land of Confusion' subliminally turn people into eco warriors!

If any one can tell me what half of the System of a Down songs are about, power to you.

Half of them are about how stupid the government and war is stupid, and how media brainwashes you. The other half...well, I think it's about drugs and sex when written under the influence of drugs... Yay! Now I has POWAH!

 

[The Creep]

It depends entirely on the band. Some bands are not worth extracting the meaning from their songs. Others, it's an entirely worthwhile exercise.

 

[Brett Alex]

If any one can tell me what half of the System of a Down songs are about, power to you.

Now there's a fun weekend of dredging up hidden meaning.

My favourite is the rumor that Kill Rock & Roll is about running over a rabbit late one night, (posthumously named 'Rock & Roll') and feeling sorry for killing it, then wishing that it could have lived a full and happy life.

 

[DrunkWithPower]

Realising what Lola was all about was a bit of a kick.
[sup]*cough*[/sup][small]Transvestite[/small][sup]*cough*[/sup]

Funny story, a buddy said that song reminded him of his grandma.... I laughed followed by crushing his sweet, loving thought behind the song.

Anywho, sometimes, if there is something to it besides government, sex, and/or drugs.

 

[TriGGeR_HaPPy]

As others have said already... Not overly. :S
I often just focus on the melody, how the instruments work together, etc. etc.

However,
Some songs do interest me as to what the band is trying to say. E.g. Hilltop Hoods' "Stopping All Stations" has a pretty good message...
And sometimes there are the other songs which aren't actually saying anything, but I still listen intently as the lyrics interest me in another way, e.g. Hilltop Hoods' "What A Great Night"
Or even Brunch's "Imagine", which doesn't have a message, so much as just being another love song... but executed differently.

So... I'm not sure. It depends on the song, really.
Some just have an excellent melody (Coldplay's "Life in Technicolor", anyone? ), others I can relate to, others do have an interesting message attached...
It really depends...

That's for me, at least. As is my opinion on the aforementioned songs :S ...

EDIT: Hidden meanings: I often don't look too far into. If it's trying to say something, I don't see why the band can't say it straight up, rather than trying to hide it amongst the lyrics and melody :S ...

 

[khululy]

I like Tool songs because Maynard doesn't really tell what the songs are about you just need to listen to them and feel their meaning. When song lyrics are not dotted out like in most pop songs I think it's up to the listners to decide their meaning. Surely they are written with a reason and the writer had some feeling behind it but sometimes songs can be so different when heard under certain circumstances. And that is what I like about lyrics.
I think lyrics are very important in a song if lyrics are terrible the song will suck as well. Take modern day rap and R&B and pop music for example. Mass produced gimmick lyrics that have no personal meaning and don't come from the heart so if the meaning behind the lyrics is: "just make an accesable song that most people can listen to" I kind of resent them.

 

[DoW Lowen]

If any one can tell me what half of the System of a Down songs are about, power to you.

Now there's a fun weekend of dredging up hidden meaning.

My favourite is the rumor that Kill Rock & Roll is about running over a rabbit late one night, (posthumously named 'Rock & Roll') and feeling sorry for killing it, then wishing that it could have lived a full and happy life.

Actually that's true. Darren ran over a rabbit, and the same day he found a rabbit that looked exactly like the one he ran over and took it in and named it Rock'n'Roll. He said this in an interview somewhere. But it really changes the meaning of the song when you know history as i mentioned, the lines Eat all the grass, eat all the grass that you want, accidents happen the dark' suddenly make a whole lot more sense.

 

[Brett Alex]

Actually that's true. Darren ran over a rabbit, and the same day he found a rabbit that looked exactly like the one he ran over and took it in and named it Rock'n'Roll. He said this in an interview somewhere. But it really changes the meaning of the song when you know history as i mentioned, the lines Eat all the grass, eat all the grass that you want, accidents happen the dark' suddenly make a whole lot more sense.

Well there you go, I'll chalk that one down as 'Confirmed'.

 

[Woem]

Realising what Lola was all about was a bit of a kick.
[sup]*cough*[/sup][small]Transvestite[/small][sup]*cough*[/sup]

Wow I never realized. Still a very good song though

 

[Sonicron]

I like Tool songs because Maynard doesn't really tell what the songs are about you just need to listen to them and feel their meaning. When song lyrics are not dotted out like in most pop songs I think it's up to the listners to decide their meaning. Surely they are written with a reason and the writer had some feeling behind it but sometimes songs can be so different when heard under certain circumstances. And that is what I like about lyrics.

I agree, Tool is really all about the experience. Just reading the lyrics doesn't do the trick, you need to submerge yourself in the song to be able to decipher what they mean to you in that very moment.
As much as I like music without lyrics, they add a whole layer that can offer a lot of food for thought. Disregarding music videos, I find it hard to believe that any listener sees the same things unfolding in their mind's eye as the song's writer/creator did, and the process of interpretation can be an interesting and jolly entertaining one indeed.

 

[DoW Lowen]

Actually that's true. Darren ran over a rabbit, and the same day he found a rabbit that looked exactly like the one he ran over and took it in and named it Rock'n'Roll. He said this in an interview somewhere. But it really changes the meaning of the song when you know history as i mentioned, the lines Eat all the grass, eat all the grass that you want, accidents happen the dark' suddenly make a whole lot more sense.

Well there you go, I'll chalk that one down as 'Confirmed'.

Cool one down, 40 more to go =_=

 

[Hutchy_Bear]

I loved finding the deep hidden meaning behind 50 cent lyrics. For example 'Wanna show me how you work it baby, no problem, Get on top then get to bouncing round like a low rider' is actually a comment on Italys foreign policy in the 1920s.

 

[Trivun]

If any one can tell me what half of the System of a Down songs are about, power to you.

Now there's a fun weekend of dredging up hidden meaning.

My favourite is the rumor that Kill Rock & Roll is about running over a rabbit late one night, (posthumously named 'Rock & Roll') and feeling sorry for killing it, then wishing that it could have lived a full and happy life.

Meh, I look up the song on Google if I want to know the meaning behind it. Only happens if I enjoy listening to it though.

I did that with a couple of Disturbed songs. 'I'm Alive' I've decided is about keeping your individuality, and 'Land of Confusion' subliminally turn people into eco warriors!

If any one can tell me what half of the System of a Down songs are about, power to you.

Half of them are about how stupid the government and war is stupid, and how media brainwashes you. The other half...well, I think it's about drugs and sex when written under the influence of drugs... Yay! Now I has POWAH!

Actually, I find it's more interesting to learn about the history of a song, rather than it's meaning

If any one can tell me what half of the System of a Down songs are about, power to you.

System of a Down were formed by a group of American-born Armenian-descended musicians who formed the band and wrote songs to complain about the war and problems in Armenia, and later to simply comment on politics and war in general. They started out, therefore, simply condemning war and conflict and ended up becoming this amazing rock band who happen to have really weird, drugged up lyrics and great songs. BYOB is pretty obvious for this, if you listen to the lyrics:

Why don't presidents fight the war?
Why do we always send the poor?

Everybody's going to the party, have a real good time,
Dancing in the desert, blowing up the sunshine...

Partying in the desert and blowing up the sun. Couldn't possibly be an Iraq reference, could it? Nope. Didn't think so. However, some songs are just surreal:

Violent pornography, choking chicks and sodomy...

I don't think you trust, in, my, self-righteous suicide...

What the hell were Serj and the guys smoking when they wrote that? Whatever it was, I want their dealer's phone number...

Serj Tankian also continued this when he split from the band (not sure about Scars on Broadway though since I haven't really heard any of their stuff). Empty Walls and Sky Is Over are prime examples of Serj carrying on with the political commentary of SOAD's songs.

I CAN HAS TEH POWAHZ NOW?

 

[Sassafrass]

I don't really mind.
If I don't figure out the lyrics, that's OK. As long as I enjoy it, that's good enough for me.